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Outlines research on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food‐funded project Communication strategies for the Promotion of Dietary Change. With a view to general dietary recommendations and to Health of the Nation targets, the focus of this three‐year project is the promotion of dietary change through information provision. A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the Institute of Food Research, Reading, is conducting the research, drawing on a number of different theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures. Pays special emphasis to the issue of fat consumption, summarizes the practical role of the theory of planned behaviour, the elaboration‐likelihood model and unrealistic optimism research, and outlines the development of a novel food and drink diary. Advocates a multidisciplinary, integrative approach to information‐based health promotion efforts.

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the mediating effect of consumer attitude towards purchasing organic food and moderating effect of consumer innovativeness on the intention to purchase organic food. A consumer survey was conducted with a specific focus on buyers of organic food products in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data were collected during December 2016 via an online survey, eventually obtaining 173 valid questionnaires for analysis. The indirect effect of organic food knowledge, subjective norm, personal norm, organic food availability, attitude towards organic food and organic food scepticism on intention to purchase organic food was tested using the PROCESS Macro in SPSS. The results revealed that organic food knowledge, subjective norm, personal norm, attitude towards organic food have indirect effects on consumer intention to purchase organic food. Moreover, findings suggest that attitude towards organic food purchase mediates the link between these four factors and consumer’s intention to purchase organic food. In addition, it was proven that consumer innovativeness positively moderates the attitude-purchase intention link in the context of organic food consumption. This chapter enhances the external validity of previous empirical findings beyond the Western European context. Further, it provides some important guidelines to the retailers to develop and implement marketing strategies for organic food products.

This study aims to focus on local food consumption and specifically seeks to explore how consumers construct the meaning of local food and the nature of relationships between key influences on the local food purchase intention.

A two-stage qualitative methodology was adopted consisting of five focus group discussions and 25 semi-structured interviews with consumers in Northern Ireland. Focus groups explored consumer meanings of local food. Semi-structured interviews sought to explore in more depth the inter-relationships between the influences on the purchase intention and the role of moral norms.

Five key influences on the purchase intention are identified (quality attributes, experience and familiarity, emotional attributes, the setting, support for the local economy). These influences are connected with a range of self-interest, altruistic and moral factors.

This study was undertaken in a specific geographical setting and thus the generalisation of the findings is limited. Future research should ascertain the views of stakeholders (producers and retailers) to provide multi-actor constructions and understandings of local food.

There are a number of practical implications for marketers from this study that provide considerable scope to differentiate local food products. A more nuanced understanding of consumer motivations and their understanding of local food will help marketers to develop brand image linked to the themes identified here such as product familiarity and rural connections. Furthermore, the local food servicescape or setting should be managed carefully to construct an emotional attachment and positive consumer experience, whilst promoting trust and perceptions of quality.

Previous studies on local food consumer behaviour have considered the influences on local food consumer behaviour in quite binary terms (self-interest and altruistic factors). This study unpicks the key influences on the purchase intention, based on a thematic analysis, and proposes a new categorisation and set of interrelationships around five key themes.

This study aims to understand the behaviour of novice consumers and provide businesses with guidelines regarding how to approach the different typologies of novice consumers from new inexperienced markets and from new generations.

The reasoned action approach is applied to wine consumer, and two parallel surveys using a questionnaire have been conducted with a sample of the Missouri population – representing new consumers – and a sample of the young Italian population – representing young consumers located in traditional consuming countries. Two research hypotheses are tested.

The hypothesis testing reveals two effects. The age effect creates similarities in the decision-making process structure, and attitude and subjective norm have the same weight in influencing behavioural intention. The novice effect creates differences in the structure; however, similarities exist at a more basic level than that of attitude and subjective norm, in salient beliefs and salient referents.

The study highlights that penetration of these consumer segments should pursue different marketing approaches: educational goals for young people from new markets, an experiential marketing approach to improve the link between product and producer for new consumers and emphasis on cultural aspects of the product in a “young manner” for young consumers from traditional consuming markets.

For the first time in the literature, this study analyses commonalities and peculiarities in the decision-making process of novice consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the reliability of a Portuguese version of the cooking skills scale (CSS) and to evaluate the association between cooking skills and socio-demographic, psychological and other cooking-related variables.

The study was conducted as an online survey among 730 Portuguese university students. Translation and back-translation of the CSS were performed. Data were assessed in two stages (test and retest) and the psychometric properties of the CSS were analyzed. The effect of socio-demographic variables was assessed by binary logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios for upper tertile of the CSS score were calculated using the lower tertile as reference.

Cronbach’s α for the CSS was 0.90. In the analysis of test-retest reliability, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was 0.79 and Cohen’s κ (for tertiles) was 0.49. Cooking skills were higher in respondents cooking more often, feeling more confident, enjoying more and indicating the personal interest as the main motivation to learn how to cook. Cooking skills were significantly better in females, older students and those with more independent place of residence.

Very good psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the CSS were found among university students, providing a proper and simple tool to measure cooking skills in future studies with similar populations. The interventions encouraging to acquire and improve cooking skills as part of promoting healthy eating should be targeted especially toward men and young adults.

The purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s food consumption experiences. Specifically, the paper seeks to provide understanding on the influence of food intake on consumer vulnerability and how this manifests within people’s lives.

The study adopts an interpretive, exploratory approach, using in-depth interviews with 20 older consumers in the UK. Thematic analysis is conducted, establishing patterns and contradictions with the data.

The findings demonstrate how biological, psychological and social age-related changes can contribute to reduced food intake in later life. The loss of control over one’s consumption experiences as a result of inappropriate portion sizes acts as a source of both immediate and future vulnerability. Resultant food wastage can serve as an immediate reminder of negative associates with ageing, while the accumulative effect of sustained under-consumption contributes to increased frailty. As a result, consumer vulnerability can pervade other contexts of an individual’s life.

The research reveals opportunities for firms to use packaging development to reduce experiences of consumer vulnerability through reduced apportionment of packaged food products. However, this needs to be considered within a multi-demographic marketplace.

This paper contributes to literature by providing a unique lens with which to understand consumer vulnerability. The findings offer a developmental perspective on the experience of consumer vulnerability, revealing the stages of proximate, immediate, intermediate and ultimate vulnerability. This perspective has the potential to offer more detailed, nuanced insights into vulnerability in other contexts beyond food consumption.

Self-efficacy in cooking and consuming fruits and vegetables is one of the dimensions that compose cooking skills. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the self-efficacy of Brazilian university students in cooking and consuming fruits and vegetables and examine the relationship of self-efficacy with sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics.

Data were collected through an online questionnaire, which was culturally adapted and validated for the studied population. Questions about self-efficacy for using basic cooking techniques (SECT), self-efficacy for using fruits, vegetables, and seasonings (SEFVS) and produce consumption self-efficacy (SEPC) were rated on a five-point Likert scale. Differences in median self-efficacy score between groups were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test or the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by the Mann–Whitney U test.

766 subjects participated in the study. The mean age was 21 ± 5.6 years, most respondents were female (60%), reported to know how to cook (72%), and lived with parents and/or grandparents (45%). The median SECT and SEFVS scores were 3.55, and the median SEPC score was 3.33. Female students, individuals aged more than 25 years, and students who did not live with their parents or grandparents had higher (p < 0.005) self-efficacy scores. Low SECT, SEFVS and SEPC scores were associated with having less than one hour a day to cook (p = 0.023, 0.01, and 0.002, respectively) and not knowing how to cook (p < 0.001). There was no relationship of median self-efficacy scores with source of knowledge about cooking skills or parental education.

The results of this study can guide interventions and public policies aimed at health promotion in the university setting.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether consumers' confidence in cooking skills related to seafood differed across genders, and if such difference could be explained by the identity-relevance of seafood cooking for men.

Survey data was collected from a balanced sample of 515 Norwegian consumers.

The results showed that men (versus women) with high confidence in their seafood cooking skills have a lower preference for convenient seafood solutions, indicating that these men may be more reluctant to use food products that could hinder the cooking outcome being attributed to their cooking skills.

This study adds nuance to the understanding of male consumers as highly reliant on convenience products when cooking. More specifically, this study provides novel insight into how men function differently than women in relation to preparing seafood, suggesting that some men resist using convenient seafood solutions in order to express an identity as skillful in the kitchen.

The aim of this research is to examine the impact of video-based learning on the cooking skills development of students. More specifically, exploring the first stages in the learning process through embedding declarative knowledge utilising both video content and learner profiles, with the purpose to make teaching practice more effectively and efficiently targeted.

A quantitative social experimental approach was employed. The sample consisted of 414 students from three post primary schools in Northern Ireland. Students were randomly allocated into both control and experimental video content groups. All participants were made aware of ethical procedures and the nature of the study.

Through the application of latent class analysis (LCA), three distinct types of students were classified. Class one (n = 250) students were termed independent learners, class two (n = 88) students were motivated and benefited from video-based learning and class three (n = 52) students demonstrated an inability to apply information because video did not assist in embedding declarative knowledge.

Implications from this research inform content generation for video-based cooking skills.

Given the unprecedented move towards online teaching in 2020 due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions, there is increasing interest in targeting resources effectively to meet the requirements of all learning groups. This paper fulfils an identified need to study how video impacts on skills development and learning within specific learning typologies.

This research will be of interest to educationalists in promoting a cost-effective resource in line with constructivist values to streamline and meet the needs of individual learners.

This study explored young males' suggestions for food skills education in three domains: food selection and planning, food preparation and food safety and storage. It also solicited young males' perspectives on mandatory food skills education.

This descriptive qualitative study employed a semi-structured interview guide. A one-page list of food skills was provided to each participant to form a consistent basis for the interviews. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method.

Forty-four young men aged 17 to 35 participated in the study. Thirty-seven supported mandatory education for food skills. Gender stereotypes around food skills were identified as a barrier to young males enrolling in elective food skills courses. When asked how food skills should be taught, the two main strategies mentioned were “online” and “hands-on.” Most participants identified skills in the food preparation domain as essential to include in the curriculum, although some recognized the importance of incorporating skills from all three domains.

Understanding important characteristics of effective food skills education for young males may increase their participation in school, virtual and community-based food skills education. Curricular content should consider young males' interests and baseline competencies and emphasize practical hands-on skills. Mandatory food skills education in secondary schools for all genders represents a comprehensive solution.

This study is among the first to report young males' opinions on crucial components of, and methods for, effective food skills education for this population.